艺术很重要

七年前, 当当地居民, 艺术 collector and ladbrokes立博中文版 benefactor Lawrence Doherty moved three sculptures from Harvard University to a studio in upstate 纽约, he had no idea he was forging a connection that would soon transform BSU’s campus.

The sculptures were the work of Hudson Valley 艺术ist 格雷格•怀亚特. They had been displayed since 1990 in Harvard University’s Winthrop House Courtyard. However, upcoming renovations meant that in 2016 the 艺术 had to go back to its creator. 在搬家过程中. 怀亚特先生. 多尔蒂结交了朋友. 在某种程度上，奥巴马说. Doherty asked the 艺术ist what he planned to do with the returning sculptures. “他问我是否有任何线索。. 怀亚特 recalled during a Zoom call over the summer. “Then he asked, ‘How about ladbrokes立博中文版?’”

第二年四月, 在杰伊·布洛克的帮助下, BSU’s associate director of collections and exhibitions, the courtyard between 麦克斯韦尔库 and the student union became home to one of the works: a life-size bronze sculpture of the legendary ballet dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov captured in flight, 可以说.

今年9月, what began with that one statue has evolved into the Greg and Fay 怀亚特 Sculpture Garden, 一个美丽的网站，到处都是他的作品. 怀亚特. Along with the Baryshnikov sculpture are 15 bas reliefs devoted to poets and their relationships to dance, 还有四位古代河神.

“我们的想法是展示女性的诗歌, 这些女神都有不同的符号, 从意大利, 中国和印度, and that is what we’ve attached to the beautiful feminine figure.”

The 72-year-old 艺术ist learned how to draw and paint from his father. 仅此一点就改变了我的生活. 但是在60年代中期, when the 怀亚特 family traveled to Mexico and visited the region once occupied by the Mayans, a young 格雷格•怀亚特 was surveying the Palenque Ruins and realized that 艺术 wasn’t limited to just two dimensions.

“That planted the seeds for my career,他说.

He went on to combine a love of the Great Books (especially Shakespeare) and elements of ancient mythology with a sculpting style that at least one fan has compared to Rodin. “怀亚特 emulates the sculpture of the Western world with contemporary vision,斯坦利·威尔斯爵士说, former chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who was instrumental in acquiring eight large pieces by Mr. 怀亚特 that are now on display at the playwright’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon in England. 的确，奥巴马的许多观点. 怀亚特’s sculpture finds its roots in the best the Western hemisphere has to offer in drama, 诗歌, 哲学与寓言.

The 艺术ist’s other big-time credits include the Peace Fountain and children’s garden at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine，纽约市. 怀亚特是它的常驻艺术家), and several high-profile pieces at his alma mater, 哥伦比亚大学, as well as works in national parks and in museums around the country. His sculptures can also be found in the halls of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and on countless campuses.

Mr. 怀亚特 would no doubt count among his many achievements his work as an educator at the Newington-Cropsey Foundation Academy of Art in his native Hastings-on-Hudson, 纽约. His goal is to equip his students with the skills they need, but then let them find their own inspiration and style. “Here at the academy, we teach individual originality,他说. “走哪条路是他们自己的选择. 我唯一教不了的就是创造力.”

通过他与BSU的关系. 怀亚特 plans to host student interns from the university who will work with him in his studio and at the foundry where his bronze castings are fired. He’s also been invited to speak 对BSU classes; an invitation he is happy to accept.

Mr. 块, whose work over the past decade has made the campus a showcase of interesting and impactful 艺术work, 奥巴马先生受到高度重视. 怀亚特’s work, as well as his approach to 艺术 in general.

“He is an amazing individual who really places front and center his belief in 艺术 as a tool to better humanity,他说. “教育, 艺术, culture are essentials to making a healthier environment for all of us, and he is one of my favorite people and has been an excellent p艺术ner in building a cultural center for our campus. His generosity and belief in our little community is humbling.”

The final pieces of BSU’s sculpture garden are expected to be put in place in the spring. It tops off what is easily one of the most unique collections of public 艺术 in the area.

“Some people will like the sculpture, and some will not and that’s fine,” Mr. 块说. “我认为这是民主的方式. My hope is that they’ll find the beauty of nature in the garden and that they will take away what they will from the sculptures. And maybe some of them will be inspired to be 艺术ists.

想了解更多关于Mr. 怀亚特和他的工作，登录 gregwyattsculpture.com. The Newington-Cropsey Foundation is the donor of the sculptures.